Love is Tender

Hello, Dear Friends, I hope that you are 

taking time to celebrate the 

tenderness of love 

this Valentine's Day. 

There are so many different ways to express 

this sweet emotion. 

I'm sure you can think of all the people 

(and pets) that you love dearly, 

and all the devoted ways that you show your love.  

I think it is definitely worth celebrating! 

"There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart."

- Jane Austen -

Like many of you, 

I always like to celebrate every holiday by doing a little decorating. 

Valentine's Day is no exception. 

Any excuse to create a change of scenery! 

Especially this time of year when we 

are spending so much of our time indoors. 

This year I am keeping things soft and low-key. 

A little sanctuary 

from the cares of the world. 

It all started with a lovely shopping trip with my daughter, Heather

to Hobby Lobby. This is an all-day endeavor! 

We have a 30-minute drive, which is when we catch up on 

the latest 'goings on' with each other, fueled by a stop 

at our local 'Starbucks'. 

Then when we get there, we peruse every aisle as we consult our shopping lists

(which we may or may not stick to!)

and consider whether this or that will work here or there! 

We have so much fun! 

I had a vision of what I wanted to achieve - an 'old world' style

with an olive and cream colorway. 

I've seen this trend on Pinterest lately. 

I had the cream-colored quilt and some of the pillows, 

but I needed to buy some olive fabric. 

I couldn't find what I wanted and was about to give up

when this lovely, soft corduroy caught my eye. 

I bought two yards and was able to stitch up 4 pillow covers. 

I had some needlework fabric with a soft, loose weave and 

sewed the (lumpy - Lol) heart pillow and fringed the edges.

It's very tender! :) 

I had the knitted throw already. 

These three 'paintings' are all Hobby Lobby offerings. 

I fell in love...

They were perfect for my theme. 

This wonderful painting is the real deal, and very vintage. 

My dear Sis-in-law, Donna sent it out to me

all the way from New England. 

She knows I love pansies. 

It was originally much larger, but had a tear, so I removed it from the frame, 

cut it down and reframed it with one I already had. 

I was able to keep the signature, too. 

The pottery vase was a flea-market find. 

The stone heart was a gift from the Mr. years ago. 

 

A vignette with faux tulips and ivy, and 'love' frame that I found on our shopping trip. 

'Love' is embroidered on black velvet. 

The sweet card is from my sis-in-law, Terry

from years past. 

The pretty dish was a Christmas gift from my grandson, Ethan, 

with cookies. 

xx

A precious correspondence. 

I covered a heart-shaped candy box with scrapbook paper and lace 

a few years ago. 

A sampler that I found at a flea-market. 

I can't imagine anyone giving it away. 

It has a date of 1987. 

Harmonious colors. 

The old hutch faces the daybed. 

Paper hearts. 

Sweet hearts. 

I found this wood riser on our trip, too. 

Perfect for my cookie cutter collection :)

My beautiful friend, Carrie, from the blog, Northwoods Scrapbook 

had a giveaway and I was one of two winners! 

One of the prizes was this beautiful 

bouquet of roses! 

You would never guess that they are not real! 

It is a large, pop-up card! Isn't it amazing? 

She painted this beautiful card to go with it! 

Definitely frame-worthy! 

xx

There were so many lovely things, including 

hand-made earrings, tag, recipe card and stickers.

And a mystery book delightfully wrapped in brown paper, with 

a bookmark and post-it markers and even a highlighter pen

(not pictured).

 And these teeny-tiny books and coffee mug refrigerator magnets! 

Thank you, again, dear Carrie. 

I love it all. 

xx

Check out Carrie's sweet blog, 

which you can find on my side bar

or click on the name of her blog, mentioned above. 

All this decorating made me hungry! 

So, I baked a batch of Oatmeal-Blueberry Streusel muffins.

Baking just so happens to be one of my love languages. 

xx

Something from the heart. 

Of course, I had to sample the goods first! 

Do you like my coasters? 

'Gather and be grateful'

I found these at a Christmas market 

when we went to visit my son and his family 

at his mountain cabin on Thanksgiving weekend. 

Earth and sky.

Sand and sea. 

xx

Here's the muffin recipe:

Oatmeal Blueberry Streusel Muffins 

Serves 12

Bake @ 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes

Use paper liners in pan

Muffin ingredients

1 cup oatmeal 

1- 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Combine all dry ingredients together in medium sized bowl and set aside. 

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

2 Tbsp maple syrup or honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl. 

Add dry ingredients 1 cup at a time, folding gently until mixed. 

Fold in 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen. 

Do not overmix. 

Streusel Topping

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup chilled butter, cut into pea-sized pieces

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

Mix all together in small bowl. 

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full, then top with 2 Tbsp streusel. 

Bake 20-25 minutes in 400 degree oven until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool 20 minutes. 

Enjoy!!!

I was outside on a recent beautiful day, 

when I spied this little beauty - the first of the season! 

And to my surprise, this little guy backed out and flew away! 

He looks a little skinny, but his pollen sacks were full. 

We've had a few unusually warm and sunny days recently.

I was able to do a bit of garden tidying

and even some pansy potting. 

Hopefully they will be blooming soon. 

 

But now, it is back to rain and cooler temperatures. 

We had a little house guest recently when my son and his family 

went on vacation to Hawaii for a week. 

His name is Ramsey. 

Isn't he cute? 

Kai was equal parts thrilled and jealous to have this little guy

spend time with us :) 

They got along great - chasing each other around and stealing 

each other's bones.

Kai is smiling but doesn't realize Ramsey has his bone in his mouth. Lol! 

xx

 Nap time. 

xx

Some interesting skies over Mt. Rainier recently. 

xx

I hope that you have a lovely Valentine's Day, dear friends. 

It's a good excuse to buy yourself some 

flowers and chocolates. 

And maybe share with someone you love. <3

xx

Oh, and how about our Seattle Seahawks winning the Superbowl? 

So exciting! 

xx

" Love is a friendship set to music."

- Joseph Campbell - 

" Love is like the wind, you can't see it,

but you can feel it."

- Nicholas Sparks - 

'A Walk to Remember'

" A loving heart is the truest wisdom."

- Charles Dickens -

 

Woodland Friends

Hello, Dear Friends, it's been quiet and still here in 

the foothills of Mt. Rainier, and the little creatures 

in our corner of the woods are enjoying the solitude. 

Except this little guy - a male Annas Hummingbird. 

He is tiny but fierce, as he defends his nectar feeder. 

You can see him looking around, ready to chase off 

any other contender. 

Luckily for his rivals, I have two other feeders to keep them 

all happy. 

Soon, the Rufous Hummingbirds will arrive from their 

spring migration, and he will be very busy! 

The Annas Hummingbirds are year-round residents here, 

as we have relatively mild winters due to the moderating 

south Pacific currents off our coastline. 

This little Song Sparrow has been a regular around here. I frequently see him/her

searching my back deck looking for insects, even when I am just 

a few feet away. 

I am so happy to have this little sweetie around, because I so enjoy 

the beautiful songs all spring and summer. 

We have Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Black-capped Chickadees. 

When it is hot, they will sit in the pear tree by my hydrangeas

when I water, and let me spray them 

while they rustle their feathers,

all the while chattering happily to each other. 

A Spotted Towhee looking for grubs. 

We have a nesting pair here. 

Our beautiful Steller's Jays. 

It is difficult to photograph them, as they move very quickly. 

These intelligent birds mate for life and stay within 10 miles of their 

place of birth. 

They are the watchdogs of the forest, mimicking the calls of hawks

and eagles as a warning to others. 

They fearlessly harass them if they make the mistake of 

coming into their territory, attracting other jays 

from the surrounding area to join in. 

The common American Robin.

Still wet from the bath.  

We have year-round residents and also migrators 

that arrive in early spring. 

I always know when they arrive as they eat all the remaining 

holly berries off the trees. 

They also sing from dawn to dusk and sometimes 

later, all spring and summer. 

They are very territorial and will attack their own reflection 

in the windows! 

Yum! 

A Dark-Eyed Junco searching for insects in the moss of the 

Big-Leaf Maple tree that grows behind my house. 

Don't you love the descriptive names? 

Who comes up with these? Lol! 

This large tree is visited by many species of birds

which gives me wonderful opportunities to observe them. 

Same tree - different bird. 

A Northern Flicker. 

This beauty seemed to be hanging out with 

a pair of Steller's Jays that arrived at the same time. 

Revealing the black necklace over a pretty spotted breast. 

This one appears to be a female, as the male 

has a bright red 'mustache'. 

These woodpeckers feed on ants and beetles, primarily,

and are the only woodpeckers to regularly 

feed on the ground.

Their loud 'wacka-wacka' call clearly identifies 

their presence.  

We have a pair of Ravens that nest nearby. 

I've not seen the nest, but they regularly parole 

their territory with juveniles in tow in spring 

and summer. 

They are considered the most intelligent of all birds, 

and mate for life. 

I have a love/hate relationship with them, as they 

are nest robbers, much to the dismay of our 

local songbirds. 

This is our native Douglas Squirrel.

They love the cone seeds from our Douglas Fir trees  

and the wingnuts from the maples. 

They frequently search our deck-boards for any 

that have fallen and are lodged in the spaces. 

They are named after David Douglas (1799-1834),

a prominent Scottish botanist. 

You can read his interesting biography by clicking on the link.  

We keep a little basin of water next to a large tree

just for them. 

We love watching them scampering around

and chattering angrily at the dog from high above. 

We have a healthy population of Pacific Tree Frogs, here. 

They are about 2 inches long with a black stripe from their 

snout to their shoulders. 

They come in a wide range of colors, from bright green,

brown, tan and even reddish or bronze. 

Their long legs and rounded toe pads allow them to easily climb. 

Males have a loud "ribbit" call to attract females. 

They are a protected species. 

They usually set up camp around the outdoor lights 

to catch the tasty moths that fly around them. 

We have cottontails here occasionally. 

The population will expand and contract depending on 

the predator population. 

We have had a resident Black-tail Doe for the last 

3 years. She was born in our fenced in 5 acres

and we watched her grow. 

Last year she surprised us with a fawn, 

although we shouldn't have been surprised...

She had visitors...

Aren't they beautiful? 

This was the 'surprise'! 

She kept her hidden for a few weeks, 

but we suspected something when she turned unusually 

aggressive towards Kai. 

We always keep Kai in the fenced area around the house, 

but she was patrolling the fence and rushing the dog! 

We gave her lots of space and never let the dog out of the fence. 

Kai...

What? I just want one little bite. 

O.K., I'll settle for a treat. 

Good boy! 

We call her 'Deer Baby' and have watched her grow. 

And yes, they have eaten a lot of my flowers and landscaping, so I have been 

researching deer-resistant plants. 

Over the years we have encouraged native plants that are naturally deer-resistant, 

so that we can enjoy these beautiful creatures.

We keep a healthy distance and never interact with them

as we don't want them to get too friendly for their own safety. 

These photos were taken early in the morning from the windows. 

Deer Baby is almost grown and able to leap the fence, 

so, we only see them occasionally now. 

But every sighting is a happy occasion. 

This little family arrived late last summer to eat the wild plums

growing at the edge of our clearing. 

There were actually three little ones with mama, 

but one was in the tree! 

They made quick work of all the fallen plums

and then disappeared as quickly as they came. 

xx

These photos were all taken from windows or my back deck

over the course of the year. 

Living here in the foothills of the Cascade mountains 

is peaceful, quiet and occasionally exciting when wildlife 

comes to visit. 

I consider myself very fortunate to experience nature 

up close and take my stewardship very seriously. 

My motto: Do no harm. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my woodland friends. 

Thank you for visiting, Dear Friends! 

Today I am linking up with Saturday's Critters

Won't you join the fun?